Ideal AFC Champions League format?

[costargh]

Here is my ideal format and structure of the AFC Champions League for 2009 onwards.


There will be 24 teams from the premier Asian Leagues.
Basic Structure
Australia: 3 Teams
Japan: 3 Teams
Korea Republic: 3 Teams
Total: 9 Teams

Saudia Arabia: 2 Teams
Iran: 2 Teams
Saudia Arabia: 2 Teams
China: 2 Teams
Total: 8 Teams


Irag: 1 Team
UAE: 1Team
Qatar: 1 Team
Kuwait: 1 Team
Thailand: 1 Team
Vietnam: 1 Team
TBD (Smaller countries top teams play off for single spot) 1 Team
Total: 7 Teams

24 Teams to take part in the AFC Champions League
6 First Stage Groups each consisting of 4 Teams.
No group shall have more than one team from each country.
There will be 6 games per team (3 home and 3 away)
The top 2 teams from each group will go through to the Second Round of the Champions League (The final 12)
Four groups of 3 will be formed. There will be a home and away leg for each match (Total of 4 matches) The winner of each group will proceed to the Semi Finals.
A home and away leg will be played for each Semi Final (total of 2 games) with the winner (on aggregate as per FIFA regualtions) proceeding to the final. Not sure where the final should be played at. (ie at a neutral venue or at the venue of one of the finalists.)
The winner of the one game final will be crowned the AFC Champions.

Prizemoney
Qualifying for the AFC CL should not be financially burdensome on any team that is selected to participate. Each teams travel expenses (including accommodation, food etc) will be paid for by the AFC. Just for qualifying for Losing First round teams should receive AU$100,000.
Losing Second round qualifiers will receive an additional AU$200,000
Losing Semi Finalists (AU$300,000)
Runners up (AU$800,000)
Winner (AU $1.6 million)

Total Prizemoney: $AU5.6 million + all travel expenses for all clubs.

Stadia
First round games must meet AFC criteria of suitable ground surface, adequate lighting for night matches, appropriate seating/standing room and must have a minimum of 7500 seats (mainly for poorer entrants who may not have suitable infrastructure and the funds to rectify this)

Second round games must meet all criteria above but must have a minimum capactity of at least 15000 per game

Semi Finals must have a minumum of 25000 seat stadiums

The final must have a minimum capacity of 50,000 (or there abouts)

Training facilities must be first class for all traveling teams.


Other
Each club must be actively involved in marketing the competition and failure to do so (or other unprofessional setups which could jeopardize the Champions League) could result in expulsion from the competition.

Can't think of anything else. Thoughts?

[nedved88]

Nah, 32 team format with atleast 4 teams from Aus, Japan and Korea.

More big teams, more exposure, more money

I would rather play Yokohama Marinos in front of 25k then Chonburi in fron of 5k.

And to anyone desputing Aus clubs gettin 4 sports take into account we are already on par with the biggest leagues in asia, just imagine in 10-15 years.

[costargh]

32 teams? The quality of some of the lowly regarded leagues in the AFC is pretty dismal. Maybe an increase from my proposed 24 and in reality it will most definitely be more than 24 teams but I just don't think their are enough high quality teams to play in the comp. We don't want 9-1's.
But yeh possibly 4 teams from Japan, Korea and Australia could be a possibility.

[3_Libras]

32 teams? The quality of some of the lowly regarded leagues in the AFC is pretty dismal. Maybe an increase from my proposed 24 and in reality it will most definitely be more than 24 teams but I just don't think their are enough high quality teams to play in the comp. We don't want 9-1's.
But yeh possibly 4 teams from Japan, Korea and Australia could be a possibility.

Neither does the UEFA Champions league, but it happens. 7-1 last year, 8-0 this year.

24 teams is reasonable though I think.

[Dasher39]

Here is my attempt...

East Asia

Australia - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Japan - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Korea - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
China - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Thailand - 1 team into Qualifying
Vietnam - 1 team into Qualifying
Malaysia - 1 team into Qualifying
Singapore - 1 team into Qualifying

Qualifying process: 8 teams, 4 games played over H&A legs, winner of each tie proceeds to ACL Group Stage.

Total - 16 teams (12 direct, 4 via Qualifying)


West Asia

Saudi Arabia - 2 teams
Iran - 2 teams
Qatar - 2 teams
UAE - 2 teams
Uzbekistan - 2 teams
Syria - 2 teams
Iraq - 2 teams
Kuwait - 2 teams

Total - 16 teams


Group Stage
- 8 groups of 4 teams
- Teams split via East Asia and West Asian zones (4 East Asian groups, 4 West Asian groups)
- Games played over H&A legs (6 games for each team)
- Top two from each group qualify for Round of 16

Round of 16
- 8 teams from East Asia, 8 from West Asia
- Teams drawn against another opponent from their region. Cannot play another team from your country.
- Games played over H&A legs (2 games)
- Winner of each tie to qualify for Quarter Finals

Quarter Finals
- 8 teams - 4 from East Asia, 4 from West Asia
- Teams not split into zones (any team can be drawn against any team)
- No groups, each team to be drawn against an opponent
- Tie played over H&A legs (2 games)
- Winners of each tie progress to Semi-Finals

Semi Finals
- 4 teams
- Teams drawn against any opponent
- Tie played over H&A legs (2 gams)
- Winner of each team to progress to Final

Final
- One game
- To be at a pre-determined location
- Winner declared AFC Champions League Champion


Prizemoney
All teams to have travel expenses paid for by AFC (to a certain point)
Teams out after Group Stage - AU$100,000.
Teams out after Round of 16 - AU$250,000
Teams out after Qtr Finals - AU$400,000
Teams out after Semi-Finals - AU$800,000
Runners up - AU$1 million
Winner - AU$1.8 million
TOTAL - AU$9.6 million + travelling expenses


Stadia
- Group Stage games must meet AFC criteria of suitable ground surface, adequate lighting for night matches, appropriate seating/standing room and must have a minimum of 7,500 seats (mainly for poorer entrants who may not have suitable infrastructure and the funds to rectify this).

- Round of 16 games must meet all criteria above, but must have a minimum capactity of at least 15,000 per game.

- Quarter Final games must meet all above, but have a minimum of 25,000 seats.

- Semi Finals must have a minumum of 30,000 seat stadiums

- The Final will be at a stadium determined before the start of the ACL. Cities across Asia will bid for the Final. Must have a minimum capacity of 50,000 seats.

- Training facilities must be first class for all traveling teams.

Other
The AFC will provide a minimum amount of funds for advertising of the competition. It is expected that competing clubs will also chip in to advertise the game in their local communities.



Having a final at a neutral location is tough for Asia given the vast size of the continent, it makes it hard for travelling fans. I'm not a huge fan of H&A legs for a final hence why I went for a one off final at a neutral venue.

The finalists of the AFC Champions League would play 13 games (6 home, 6 away, 1 neutral*) so that is a fair amount of games.
* Unless they come from the city that is to host the final

I believe this is something along the lines of what The AFC are looking at. It'd be great to see and would give the chance for up to 4 A-League teams to compete in the competition and if they were to progress further into the tournament it would become very lucrative for them!

[Ze Boy]

Yeah I think it needs to be the highest standard of football to gain well... (respect, prestige honestly I not sure what word I'm looking for) amongst supporter and clubs

I agree with both 3L and NV88 that more of the bigger teams in the ACL would make it more exciting but still thrashings are inevitable in any sport it's just about how they can minimize it from happening

[The Technician]

Wrong section :smartass:

[Ella]

I'm a bit uncomfortable with 4 teams from the A-League getting through at the moment, maybe when our comp is a bit bigger, but 4/8 is ridiculous.

Maybe if the format was 3 direct qualifers and one plays off.

[Wheelbarrow]

4 teams from Australia is a lot, but if we are of better quality, then i say do it.
I'd even be happy with 2 teams in, 2 teams play off...we do have to give the smaller (football) nations a shot.

4/10 would be ok...all finalists have a shot at it.
premier gets automatic entry
champion gets automatic entry
in the event that its the same team, the team finishing second in the regular season should be automatic qualification, not the runner up in the final.

2 teams from each group need to advance

I think from the round of 16 any team from any nation can play one another.
could be australian team v australian team or australian team v iraqi team.
OR adpot a world cup style, winner of a players runner up of B, winner of C plays runner up of D ect ect (if you wanted to keep east/ west asia seperate).

[Krzysiu]

4 teams is too much.

[dechardonay]

i like this game, i might have a crack :)

started with costargh's plan, and added/changed my own ideas.

24 teams
Basic Structure
Australia: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Japan: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Korea Republic: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
China: 2 teams (plus one qualifier)
Total: 8 Teams (plus four qualifiers)

Saudia Arabia: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Iran: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Qatar: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Iraq: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Total: 8 Teams (plus four qualifiers)


UAE: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Kuwait: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Thailand: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Vietnam: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Indonesia: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Uzbekistan: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Total: 6 Teams (plus 6 qualifiers)

24 Teams to take part in the AFC Champions League
22 Teams direct qualifiers, 2 through qualifying round (along with one team each from minor leagues not mentioned here)

Qualifying rounds: four groups of seven (14 qualifiers above, plus another 14 from lower seeded leagues), play each team once in RR (6 games), top in each group ONLY goes through to playoff round, H&A eliminations, decided by draw. These are last two spots. This stage is necessarily brutal, but hopefully there'll be a few david v goliath stories here ;)

6 First Stage Groups each consisting of 4 Teams.
First Stage Draw remains split between east asia/west asia
There will be 6 games per team, as per current (3 home and 3 away)
The top 2 teams from each group will go through to the Second Round of the Champions League (The final 12)
Four groups of 3 will be formed. There will be a home and away leg for each match (Total of 4 matches) The winner of each group will proceed to the Semi Finals.
A home and away leg will be played for each Semi Final (total of 2 games) with the winner (on aggregate as per FIFA regualtions) proceeding to the final.
Final should still be H&A, as per current, partly due to sheer logistics, but also because a neutral venue would exclude a number of teams.

Prizemoney
Steps should be taken to ensure qualifying for the AFC CL should not be financially burdensome on any team that is selected to participate.

Each teams travel expenses (including accommodation, food etc) should be subsidised by the AFC (based on assessment of how much the club can meet); match hosting fees same treatment (i'm on the understanding mvfc didn't even break even with the match against chunnam).

Teams in the qualifying round awarded $50,000 flat if they fail to qualify (24 teams) - this will mean a LOT to the smaller teams in smaller leagues.
Just for qualifying for Losing First round teams should receive AU$100,000 (12 teams)
Losing Second round qualifiers will receive an additional AU$150,000 (
Losing Semi Finalists (additional AU$300,000)
Runners up (additional AU$800,000)
Winner (AU $2 million flat)

Total Prizemoney: $AU8.85 million + subsidised travel expenses/hosting fees for all clubs.

Stadia
First round games must meet AFC criteria of suitable ground surface, adequate lighting for night matches, appropriate seating/standing room and must have a minimum of 7500 seats (mainly for poorer entrants who may not have suitable infrastructure and the funds to rectify this)

Second round games must meet all criteria above but must have a minimum capactity of at least 15000 per game - any required relocations will be taken into account for any subsidies

Semi Finals must have a minumum of 25000 seat stadiums

The final must have a minimum capacity of 50,000

Training facilities must be adequate for all traveling teams.


Other
Each club must be actively involved in marketing the competition and failure to do so (or other unprofessional setups which could jeopardize the Champions League) could result in reduced or removed subsidies from the competition. Each club should work with the ACL to ensure uniform promotion of the event. One way could be, each club is assigned an ACL liason to help with everything.

Teams eliminated at each stage have an entry into AFC President's Cup (which should also get revamped to allow the lower teams to be given higher end competition - a la UEFA Cup) - this opportunity runs up to the second stage. eliminations at ACL qualifying get thrown into a qualifying mixer for President's Cup, ACL qualifying match losers enter first stage of competition directly, first stage ACL eliminations enter into second stage, second stage ACL eliminations enter into third stage, etc.

[jemo27]

24 teams
Basic Structure
Title holder: 1 team
AFC cup winner previous year: 1 team (plus runner up qualifier)

Total 2 (plus 1)

Australia: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Japan: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Korea Republic: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
China: 2 teams (plus one qualifier)
Total: 8 Teams (plus four qualifiers)

Saudia Arabia: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Iran: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Qatar: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Iraq: 2 Teams (plus one qualifier)
Total: 8 Teams (plus four qualifiers)


UAE: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Kuwait: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Thailand: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Vietnam: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Indonesia: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
Uzbekistan: 1 Team (plus one qualifier)
(next best ranked country, qualifier)
Total: 6 Teams (plus 7 qualifiers)

24 automatically qualify

16 play in qualifiers over two legs, 8 winners join 24 automatic qualifiers

Group Stage
8 groups of 4, with try and keep regional split if possible)

Then top 2 in each group make final 16 similar to Europe then continue on quarter final, semi finals and one game final.

Eventually Number of teams should be based on a similar thing to UEFA Co-efficient

[mattdavies_03]

Not sure how many teams should be involved, but I'm all for a one game final at a pre-determined location, like the UEFA Champions League is. However it would have to be at a stadium that can hold 40k

[Manucharian]

most of you forgot syria and the kazaks they have teams that are out ranking us on fifa site

agree with what dasher posted but if australia have 3 teams then saudis, iranians etc should have the same from the west

[Dasher39]

most of you forgot syria and the kazaks they have teams that are out ranking us on fifa siteAren't Kazakstan part of UEFA. I think you mean Uzbekistan, in which case most people have forgotten them and Syria!

[dechardonay]

kazakhstan is uefa, i'm pretty sure... </me rummages on wikipedia...>

Domestic competition

The main league competition in the country is the Kazakhstan Super League, formed in 1992 from Zone 8 of the Third Level of Soviet football with other higher placed Kazakh clubs co-opted. A first division was added in 1994 and this competition is now organised on a regional basis and is fed into by a further regionalised second division. The Kazakhstan Cup is also competed for, while successful clubs gain entry to the early rounds of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_kazakhstan

[juanpabloangel]

I actually wonder if there shouldn't be a complete shift in the confederations. I think it would be good if the whole of North Africa joined up with the Western Asian region plus Turkey... and had that as a confederation.... with Africa (sub sahara) then leave Asia with the Eastern region, including us. It may help development. Likewise I would like to see America as one, as the North would benefit the south in one way and benefit from the south

[Manucharian]

sorry yeah kazaks are uefa lol i should know my old country played against them and won :P

[joey_m]

maybe only champions should be allowed entry?:rolleyes:

[Tunna]

maybe only champions should be allowed entry?:rolleyes:

More entertaining in the current format, especially the UCL.

[Popos]

maybe only champions should be allowed entry?:rolleyes:
That's Victory out then.

[benief]

sorry yeah kazaks are uefa lol i should know my old country played against them and won :P

u'd hope they would...kazakhstan are rubbish.

[blueheels]

Hi Blueheels here,
Congratulations to those who put a lot of careful thought into their ideas for the league.
I must admit though we are underestimating the West Asians .... they won evey AFC championship appart from the last one.
So the proposals underweight them in their consideration.

From my perspective the ACL (Our Champions League) should be something special, the best of the best and a real treat to qualify to be in it.

It should be the most important goal of the season as it is for european clubs in their champions league.

For myself I like the current format which is the old fashioned European Cup configuration ... 29 teams is the best of the best.
The best only gets out of group .... one chance only .... big pressure
No more than two teams from each country .... last comps winner guaranteed a quarter final place.

Winning is everything and winning competition of the best of the best is what we should do.

In this competition, the most import thing is to make sure we come out of the group stage at the very least. We need to surpass the sky blues and shove it up them.

Remember the European Champions league suffers a little through to many clubs coming from individual leagues ...... being a fan of Serie A (my italian background) and not supporting any EPL clubs .... I think this needs to be addressed. Our champions league should not suffer from that. For me the hopes of Serie A lies with AS Roma ... I wish them well but I would feel a whole lost better if AC or Inter was there as well.

Well that my thoughs ... its only one opinion ... you should find others

Cheers,
Victory till I die,
Sydney FC mud in your eye.

[jemo27]

agree blue heels i wouldn't mind eveen only 16 teams qualfied if it was just the 16 champions of each league

[stormanimal]

Here is my attempt...

East Asia

Australia - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Japan - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Korea - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
China - 3 direct qualifiers (plus 1 team into Qualifying)
Thailand - 1 team into Qualifying
Vietnam - 1 team into Qualifying
Malaysia - 1 team into Qualifying
Singapore - 1 team into Qualifying

Qualifying process: 8 teams, 4 games played over H&A legs, winner of each tie proceeds to ACL Group Stage.

Total - 16 teams (12 direct, 4 via Qualifying)


West Asia

Saudi Arabia - 2 teams
Iran - 2 teams
Qatar - 2 teams
UAE - 2 teams
Uzbekistan - 2 teams
Syria - 2 teams
Iraq - 2 teams
Kuwait - 2 teams

Total - 16 teams


Group Stage
- 8 groups of 4 teams
- Teams split via East Asia and West Asian zones (4 East Asian groups, 4 West Asian groups)
- Games played over H&A legs (6 games for each team)
- Top two from each group qualify for Round of 16

Round of 16
- 8 teams from East Asia, 8 from West Asia
- Teams drawn against another opponent from their region. Cannot play another team from your country.
- Games played over H&A legs (2 games)
- Winner of each tie to qualify for Quarter Finals

Quarter Finals
- 8 teams - 4 from East Asia, 4 from West Asia
- Teams not split into zones (any team can be drawn against any team)
- No groups, each team to be drawn against an opponent
- Tie played over H&A legs (2 games)
- Winners of each tie progress to Semi-Finals

Semi Finals
- 4 teams
- Teams drawn against any opponent
- Tie played over H&A legs (2 gams)
- Winner of each team to progress to Final

Final
- One game
- To be at a pre-determined location
- Winner declared AFC Champions League Champion


Prizemoney
All teams to have travel expenses paid for by AFC (to a certain point)
Teams out after Group Stage - AU$100,000.
Teams out after Round of 16 - AU$250,000
Teams out after Qtr Finals - AU$400,000
Teams out after Semi-Finals - AU$800,000
Runners up - AU$1 million
Winner - AU$1.8 million
TOTAL - AU$9.6 million + travelling expenses


Stadia
- Group Stage games must meet AFC criteria of suitable ground surface, adequate lighting for night matches, appropriate seating/standing room and must have a minimum of 7,500 seats (mainly for poorer entrants who may not have suitable infrastructure and the funds to rectify this).

- Round of 16 games must meet all criteria above, but must have a minimum capactity of at least 15,000 per game.

- Quarter Final games must meet all above, but have a minimum of 25,000 seats.

- Semi Finals must have a minumum of 30,000 seat stadiums

- The Final will be at a stadium determined before the start of the ACL. Cities across Asia will bid for the Final. Must have a minimum capacity of 50,000 seats.

- Training facilities must be first class for all traveling teams.

Other
The AFC will provide a minimum amount of funds for advertising of the competition. It is expected that competing clubs will also chip in to advertise the game in their local communities.



Having a final at a neutral location is tough for Asia given the vast size of the continent, it makes it hard for travelling fans. I'm not a huge fan of H&A legs for a final hence why I went for a one off final at a neutral venue.

The finalists of the AFC Champions League would play 13 games (6 home, 6 away, 1 neutral*) so that is a fair amount of games.
* Unless they come from the city that is to host the final

I believe this is something along the lines of what The AFC are looking at. It'd be great to see and would give the chance for up to 4 A-League teams to compete in the competition and if they were to progress further into the tournament it would become very lucrative for them!

badly neglecting the arab clubs. they are as successful as the big asian clubs (ie. Al ittihad, Al-Hilal, al-Sadd, al-ain etc) hence they should be given as many places as Aus/Japan